The present invention relates to sharing of online resources in a multi-user computer system and, in particular, to a system that automatically distributes knowledge-based objects without requiring use of traditional groupware applications such as e-mail.
Modern businesses use networked computer systems in many facets of their operation to simplify and streamline business processes. SAP AG markets several applications to assist businesses in their knowledge management functions, customer relationship management functions, and supply chain management functions (among others). Other vendors provide, for example, groupware applications to permit business operators to manage contacts, record tasks, schedule meetings and communicate via e-mail. Still other vendors offer applications that assist operators to store documents and other work product in integrated document management systems, where the work product can be indexed for later search and retrieval. In all of these applications, operators may record the businesses' day-to-day operations.
Some applications permit operators to record personal notes and store them for later use. The Lotus Notes personal journal and Microsoft Outlook notes are examples of this use. Some systems permit the notes to be drafted as a free text note pad while others include fields such as title, author and perhaps client code that permit the note to be indexed in some fashion. In all of these systems, the notes typically are stored in a single user's workspace and are not shared with others without an express command.
Existing applications permit a user (herein, an “author”) to exchange his personal notes with other users. In the most common method, the author simply e-mails the personal note to others. While this method is straightforward, it can be expensive to administer. Each recipient of a shared note must review the note personally and save it in his own workspace. This process becomes oppressive when a large number of notes are shared among large teams and it can become annoying if a user is forced to administer to a large number of shared notes are not relevant to a user's practice. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for members of a common network to share work product with one another automatically, in a manner that frees users from having to manage the work product manually.